International concern for animal health and welfare continues to grow
with increasing demand for measures to protect animals and improve animal
quality of life.
The University of Edinburgh has a
longstanding interest in animal health and welfare education. Integrated within the
R(D)SVS the Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education
(JMICAWE), is a venture with ambitious objectives committed to improving the
health and welfare of animals through education, training and research and by
influencing policy at the highest level. The JMICAWE not only promotes the need
for education in animal welfare science and ethics but also emphasizes the important
role future veterinarians have in promoting subjects of international concern
such as animal welfare along with the job of protecting animal and public
health.
India is already the highest milk producing
country and with increasing demands for meat, eggs and milk, Indian farming
enterprises are rapidly becoming larger and animals more intensively managed, often
associated with challenging consequences for animal health and welfare and
indirectly increased risks for food safety and, ultimately human health. Understanding the issues and finding new ways
of enhancing animal health and welfare is clearly a complex and important area
for the veterinary community in India. The most defining characteristic of any
profession must be their ability to constantly improve, and most importantly to
be able to disseminate new knowledge gained through high quality research.
Recent projects, initiatives and collaborations
with academic partners in India have involved the development and delivery of a
number of successful workshops with the support of collaborating Indian
Universities, Governmental bodies and Wildlife institutes such as the Kerala
Veterinary and Animal Science University, the Karnataka veterinary, animal
science and fisheries University, the National Wildlife Institute in Bangalore,
and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, as well as influential professional
organisations, such as the Veterinary Council of India and the Commonwealth
Veterinary Association. The aim of these collaborative workshops and meetings
has been to aid in the development of innovative methods for delivery of a future focused veterinary curriculum
at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
In
November a team from JMICAWE will be going out to Kerala in India to develop further
our partnership there with a series of collaborative workshops with themes focusing
on Production Animal Health, Animal Welfare, Companion Animal Nursing and Welfare
and Wildlife.
‘The links between animal health,
animal welfare and human welfare are becoming increasingly recognised,
alongside an awareness of the importance of educating our veterinarians so that
they are well equipped to take a leadership role in tackling globally important
issues such as the overuse of anti-microbials, animal welfare concerns and
understand the concept of ‘One Health’.” ~ Professor Natalie Waran, Jeanne Marchig Professor of Animal Welfare,
University of Edinburgh.
For more
information about our academic programmes see:
www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/vet/studying/postgraduate/taught-programmes
For further information
about the JMICAWE, please visit:
